Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Six straight years of grant support has secured needs for thousands of underfunded UVA Hospital guests and out-patients



As we entered 2017, the Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band in the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation (CACF) provided a grant of $5,000.00. This grant is dedicated to the Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum's (IHS) Food Program. With this grant the Bama Works Fund has contributed a total of $43,000.00 in the last six years. For this cycle the Fund was able to support all of the 72 applications received, awarding a total of $530,000.00 to organizations throughout the Charlottesville area.  The consistency of attention to this public charity and our efforts to provide for the indigent hospital guests is so well-served by this marvelous Foundation. And we say ... THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!

This Grant is impacting on two distinctive IHS Food Programs

The UVA Hospitality House (HH). The thirty (30) room facility which can lodge about sixty (60) people is the only affordable opportunity for lodging for indigent and underfunded long distance out-patients and caregivers who must come for treatment at the UVA Medical Center in Charlottesville. UVA Hospitality House does not have a budget for food and kitchen related items, and is supported through donations. Although HH receives a small grant from the Emergency Food Bank, the most consistent supplier is IHS. This annual grant has been the main reason for this charity's ability to secure a monthly fulfillment of food needs for HH guests.

The Full-day Meal Packet Program.  IHS stocks a large cabinet in the Office of Social Work in the main hospital, which allows UVA Social Workers 24/7 access to provide underfunded guests (family members, caregivers and outpatients) from long distances to have proper nourishment. The Bama Works Fund Grant has allowed IHS to purchase and fulfill the food requirements requested by the Hospitality House Supervisor and continue to grow its donor group of churches, schools, scouts, clubs, clinics, businesses and others for making full-day meal packets for Social Worker access for those guests without adequate funds for food while inside the hospital. Over the years the monthly production by these groups is from 200-300 packets, which translates into 2,400 - 3,000 packets yearly.

A Note from UVA Hospitality House Supervisor,  Mary Jackson
"Without any funds allowed in our budget for food, we are completely reliant on contributions in order to provide for our guests.  IHS has remained that dependable asset and Bama Works Fund Grant has remained a most dependable friend in order to secure IHS's reliability. To the Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band in CACF Committee ... Thank you for allowing this group of volunteers the needed funds to assist in the feeding of the least able visitors to our community."

Please remember that all of us at IHS are non-paid volunteers, and we are all donating what we can to IHS personally. Also remember - for transparency we hold the "Gold Seal of Approval" from the Guidestar.org national clearing house.
 
 

Love ...  T. Wade Clegg III  and Sam McLawhorn